Unforgotten
by Angry Diner Man
Summary: For a time it seemed like the third war would be the last, that the Allied Nations might cling to peace. But there were too many questions left unanswered, too many old wounds still open. The cycle of war will not be so easily broken... and what was begun is yet to run its course.
1. Prologue

The desert left little room for mistakes. You either learned that quickly or you were killed, the victim of dehydration, heatstroke, or one of the sandstorms that travelled through the wastes like demons. During the day the blistering sun scorched all in its path, and at night the chill winds stabbed and bit with cruel abandon. There was no shelter or shade, no respite from the elements. Just sand. Filthy, gritty, endless sand. Adder hated the sand. It was everywhere, in all directions; north, south, even inside his boots.

Adder's career in the Black Hole army had seen better days.

Everything had gone downhill after he'd agreed to follow Hawke. They'd withdrawn what remained of their army to distant Omega Land, where the so-called Allied Nations had only small outposts, and begun to rebuild. It hadn't been long before someone else had taken control of Black Hole, and everything had changed. Adder didn't know who was behind the coup, or what motivated them. He only knew that Hawke had been helpless to prevent it, and soon after, both he and Flak had been removed from command. Adder didn't know what had happened to Flak. Nor did he care. He had left in the dead of night as soon as he caught wind of the news, alone. There had been no reason to look back.

Not until he had become lost in the infernal desert, that was, and even his uncertain fate under Black Hole's new master had started to seem like an attractive prospect. His half-baked plan of scurrying to the coast, hiding out in a luxurious villa, and ignoring every wretched conflict that wracked the world had fallen apart faster than he could believe. Instead of a comfortable retirement his life had become a desperate scramble for survival in a desert he had never expected to find. That was the worst cruelty of all. Omega Land was lush and temperate, not a hideous desert wasteland. The desert shouldn't have even been there.

The moon was high above Adder's head as he sat hunched over a tiny fire, brooding on his miserable fate. Nothing moved in the barren expanse except the flames. Then he heard something. Almost like a breath of wind, except here, sheltered by the dunes, there was no wind. Adder dismissed it as a product of his imagination and clutched at his arms for warmth.

Then he heard it again, something rustling just nearby. He snapped his head around and saw-

"Adder."

He was hallucinating. He had to be hallucinating. Perhaps the dehydration was getting to him at last, or maybe the myriad cruelties of life had driven him to madness. Such a tragic end for a magnificent mind like his, to be reduced to nothing by the careless desert.

"Adder."

That voice seemed so real, though. He could have sworn he was actually hearing it, and the appearance, so familiar… could a hallucination be this vivid?

"Not real," Adder muttered, his sunken eyes riveted to the fire. "You're not real."

A deep laugh burst out. If anything, it sounded bemused.

"I assure you I am very much real."

The apparition moved around and stood opposite Adder, on the other side of the small fire. Adder glanced upwards into those vivid green eyes, then shuddered and looked back to the flames.

"You're dead," he said. "I watched you die."

"Everything passed exactly as I planned. Hawke served his purpose, as I knew he would."

Adder was beginning to feel unsettled, but not because of his mental breakdown. This particular brand of unease was a sensation he had not felt in months, not since… no. He stopped himself before he could venture any further down that line of thought. Even if he was going mad, he still had the presence of mind enough to know it. Adder might have been a coward, but that didn't mean he would bow down to his own deluded brain without a fight.

"I need you, Adder. I need your help."

Adder laughed, a coarse, barking laugh. He had to admit, he sounded insane. More than that he felt insane. He was alone, stranded in a desert, struggling to survive, he had started hallucinating, and he was laughing about it. The sheer absurdity of it all made him laugh even harder until he was completely helpless, caught in the grip of this bizarre mirth.

"My hallucination needs my help," Adder exclaimed once he was sufficiently recovered.

"No. I need your help."

"My help!" Adder snarled. "Why is it that everybody always needs my help? Flak needs my help to come up with a plan. Lash needs my help to test her new toy. What about me? I need help!"

Adder clambered to his feet and turned his back on the fire, looking out over the undulating shadows of the desert with a maniacal look on his thin, pale face.

"Do you hear me, world?" He roared out with much greater volume than his raspy voice had ever held before. "I, Adder, need help!"

There was no reply, of course. Just sand. Endless, gritty, filthy sand, mocking him with its cold smoothness. All of a sudden Adder felt like a complete fool as he stared out into the wastes, panting like a dog with his purple hair messy and tangled. His outburst had been somehow sobering, and now, standing alone beneath a shroud of silence, his mind felt clear again. There was nothing there, of course. Just the whistling of the wind and the crackling of the fire.

Then Adder felt the chill caress of something cool against his hand, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the dread apparition return. How could he feel the touch of something that wasn't real, unless he was further gone than he thought? Icy panic shot through his chest and he found himself paralysed. His legs must have given way, because he found himself immersed in sand, staring upwards. All he could see was darkness. For a single instant the night sky was silhouetted against the black shape of the ghostly figure. Then the shadows bled together into a terrifying void, and Adder knew nothing more.


	2. An End to Peace

The soft sea breeze swept over the coastline of Orange Star in a pulse of fresh air, carefree beneath the gaze of the morning sun. The breeze blew inland to the hills set far back from the beach, ruffling the vibrant blue hair of a tall, muscular man looking down to the sea. He was dressed in a plain white singlet that was stretched taut over his bulky frame, and below a reinforced belt he wore dark blue pants tucked into his heavy boots. His skin was tanned, and while he was serious and unsmiling as a matter of course, today he wore a much deeper frown than usual.

The man pulled a small com device out of his pocket and put it to his ear, his hard eyes never leaving the coast.

"HQ, this is Task Force Bravo. Do you copy?"

"I read you, Commander Max," the musical voice of Nell, Commander-in-Chief of the Orange Star Armed Forces, replied. "What's the situation there?"

There was a grim set to Max's square jaw as he looked out from the hilltop and down to the area in question. Under ordinary circumstances it would have been a lovely view. Verdant green plains tumbled down along a gentle slope to meet the white, sandy beach, beyond which the sparkling southern ocean stretched without end.

Today, however, the coast was swarming with hundreds of soldiers and vehicles, all of them a dull grey in colour. There were tanks, artillery, anti-air batteries, even a lone fighter jet circling high above. Worse still, several kilometres down the coast Max could see a tall, dark structure with a smooth, rounded top sitting on a small peninsula.

"Max? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Listen, you said that some Black Hole troops had been spotted down here, right?"

For a few moments there was only static.

"Yes, we've received reports that a fragment of their army wound up there. Why, what's the matter? You know the mission."

Though the war in Omega Land had ended almost half a year ago, 'Operation Clean-Up' was still ongoing, diverting much of Orange Star's military resources from their usual duties. With their leadership dead or missing, the fragments of the Black Hole Army had fled in all directions after their defeat at the hands of the Allied Nations. While most of the enemy troops had been confined to Omega Land and the surrounding regions, some had even managed to reach other continents. For months now there had been small, leaderless bands sporadically appearing all over the world, none of them large or strong enough to present any real threat. Naturally, Orange Star was making a point of swiftly stamping out any trace of their old foe.

"Nell, there are a lot of Black Hole troops here, and they look pretty fresh. This isn't just a bunch of beat up leftovers. We're, uh, outnumbered almost two to one."

"Do you think you'll be able to handle them?"

"They're pretty well entrenched. I wouldn't want to risk it. Oh, and Nell…" Max's eyes settled on the domed building. "They've got a Black Cannon."

"Oh. Well…" She paused. "Hold your position and wait for instructions. I'll see what I can find out about this. Nell out."

Max shoved the com back in his pocket and crossed his arms, shivering in the breeze. Turning away from the coast, he saw a young woman in a baggy red jacket and pants moving towards him. The wind tried to toy with her fiery blonde hair, but in vain; it was tightly secured under a cap which was the same faded red colour as the rest of her clothes. Usually, Rachel would have sported a cheerful smile on her face, but today her cute, almost doll-like features bore a frown almost as deep as Max's.

"What did my Sis have to say about all this?"

"She doesn't know anything. I think she was just as surprised as us."

"I just don't get what's going on," Rachel burst out. "Everything we know says Black Hole shouldn't have this kind of firepower concentrated in one place, let alone the resources to build a Black Cannon."

"Yeah, that was what we thought last time," Max said. "And we still haven't found the Bolt Guard. For all we know they're behind this."

"I don't know." Rachel frowned. "Their strength was shattered after Omega Land. Our latest intel shows no Black Crystal or Obelisk activity anywhere in the world, and I can't think of any other way Black Hole could have rebuilt their army so fast."

Rachel fell quiet as her eyes followed the speck in the sky around for a few moments, before she passed Max a pair of binoculars.

"Get a look at that fighter up there and tell me what you think."

Max examined the plane for only a brief second. "It's a Black Hole fighter. So what?"

"Take a look at the engine and missiles. What do you notice?"

"Uh…" A confused light flickered in Max's eyes. "They're sort of a bluish grey?"

Rachel smiled a little. "Right. Thing is, all the fighters we came across in Omega Land had dark red engines and missiles. Weird, huh?"

Max looked through the binoculars again, longer this time. When he handed them back to her Rachel saw a strange look in his eyes, one that she could only place as deep concern.

That was a bad sign.

It took a lot to shake Max. During the Omega War he had been the most fearless commander the Allied Nations had. Nothing fazed him, and he'd never hesitated to rush headlong at whatever Black Hole threw at them. Even though he had sometimes been headstrong to the point of foolishness, Rachel felt no shame in admitting that without his strength and experience the war would have gone very differently. If he was worried… she didn't want to think about what it might mean.

"What?" She asked, trying to make light of how troubled she felt. "It's just a colour change, which probably means that the Bolt Guard aren't-"

"Rachel." Max cut her off with just that one word, his eyes still locked on the fighter. "How much do you know about the Second Great War?"

"I read some of the reports," she said, faltering as she realised she had no idea what he was implying. "Not much."

Max nodded and began to flex his fingers. "Well, during the Second War, Black Hole used fighters with that colour scheme. Blue instead of red."

"You think these troops weren't involved in the Omega War?"

"Yup."

"But-" Rachel stopped herself and took a deep breath. "Okay, so that means these guys are either left over from before then, or…"

"Or they're part of a new Black Hole army, under the command of someone who fought in the Second War."

They both fell quiet, listening to the gentle lapping of the waves and erratic breeze, the peaceful sounds marred by the droning of engines and rumble of treads. Max watched as Rachel put her hand to her brow and pushed a tuft of her messy hair back under her cap, her gaze never moving from the spectacle below. She turned partway towards him at the sound of a faint crack somewhere nearby.

"Did you hear something?"

Max blanched. Over Rachel's shoulder, he could see the barrel of the Black Cannon pointing straight at them. He leapt forward and tackled her, the two of them spilling downwards in an awkward roll. They were halfway down the hill when the cannon shell impacted. A split second later, the summit erupted in a geyser of dirt and flame, and the sun and clear sky were blotted out by darkness.

Max and Rachel were showered in flecks of soil as they came to a rough stop at the base of the hill. Max staggered to his feet, putting one hand on his spinning head to try and steady himself. At some point on the way down he had lost hold of Rachel, and it took him a moment to spot her nearby, prone on her back.

"You okay?" He called out.

A coughing fit was his only reply. Max jogged over to her and pulled Rachel to her feet.

"Come on, Rachel. We gotta get outta here."

"I think I hurt my ankle," she gasped, lurching sideways.

Max's frown deepened. Rachel was barely moving, and through his ringing ears he could hear the droning noises coming closer.

"You don't sound too good."

"I'm just a little winded, I'll make it."

"Just relax. I'll get us out of this." Max stopped, lifted her up, and ran towards a waiting recon car.

The two COs had journeyed closer to the beach in the recon; the rest of their task force was holding position several kilometres inland. As Max was in command, it was composed mostly of tanks and medium tanks, but it was still outmatched by the sizeable Black Hole battalion. Already Max was thinking what the best plan of action would be. They could rely on their superior unit strength and attack, but there was a good chance they'd be routed. It would probably be smarter to retreat and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

"Get us back to the main army at the double, soldier," Max barked as he leapt into the recon's passenger seat. "We've got company, and I don't mean the kind you have round for dinner."

"Right away, Commander Max."

Another shot from the Black Cannon obliterated what was left of the hill. Max glanced over his shoulder and saw a veil of thick, dirty smoke where the rise had been. Then the smoke parted to reveal two Black Hole tanks, rushing forward at full speed.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" He grunted.

"I'm afraid not, sir."

The recon hit a rock and went airborne. There was a brief feeling of weightlessness before the armoured car crashed back down again, sending a vicious shudder through its occupants. Army vehicles weren't exactly designed with comfort as a top priority.

Rachel moaned as the recon hit the ground and kept speeding along. Looking down at her, Max noted that her lips were twisted together in pain, and her face was a little pale. He was beginning to wonder if she hadn't been hurt worse than he thought, but at least she wasn't in pieces.

An explosion filled the view outside Max's window with fire and smoke. Over the roar of the explosion, he could just make out the sound of machine gun fire. He grimaced and activated the recon's communications system.

"All units, this is Commander Max. We've got Black Hole troops inbound from the south. We're gonna have to make a fighting retreat. I want everyone ready to move in five minutes, tops."

There was only static in reply.

"Is this thing working?"

Another tank round hit just in front of them. The driver swerved to avoid the blast, but it was already too late. The world outside became a hellish mirage of black and red, and there was no way to see where they were going. A sheet of flame appeared on the bonnet, and Max could have sworn he heard the tyres burning.

Then they were out and into clear skies once again, the dying recon trailing fire and smoke.

"Get out!" Max yelled as the recon's engine began to splutter and catch.

He threw the door open, made sure he had a tight hold of Rachel, and leapt. Max dived into the dirt and hit it hard. That was his second tumble in almost as many minutes, and his muscles were already beginning to scream in protest. He swore under his breath as bullets raced just overhead.

"We're screwed, aren't we?" Rachel said, her soft voice barely reaching Max's ear.

"Hey, Black Hole couldn't beat me in three wars," he retorted. "I'm not going down so easy."

He looked up and saw the two tanks closing in on them, while in the distance, more enemy troops were moving out over the hills. The tanks were sweeping around, one on each side, machine guns ready to strafe. Their guns were pointed right at the ruined recon. Maybe if Max covered Rachel she'd stand a chance of surviving, or maybe the bullets would rip right through him and render the whole thing pointless.

"I'm sorry," he said to Rachel, staring at the ground next to her eyes. "I shoulda done better..."

A moment later the tanks started to fire. There was a brief burst of machine gun fire, then the deeper blast of cannons. Max shuddered at the thought of getting hit by a tank cannon even as he heard the rounds detonate with a colossal explosion, almost too loud for mere tanks. He screwed his eyes up tight and waited for the fireball to reach them.

As suddenly as it began, the explosion subsided, and Max found himself completely unscathed. He looked up in confusion only to find the Black Hole tanks were smouldering derelicts, and holding position near the recon were two medium tanks in the proud livery of Orange Star. Max had never seen anything so beautiful in his life.

"Commander Max!" One of the pilots called out as he got to his feet. "Everyone's ready to move out, just like you ordered."

Max grinned, lifted Rachel in one arm, and sprinted over to the closest tank. "Come on. Let's get back to the rest of the army. We've got a whole bunch of Black Hole troops incoming."

They climbed into the tank, a wave of relief passing through Max. He was surprised to be safe and alive, but that just made the feeling all the sweeter. His com device beeped once, breaking the moment. He plunged his hand into his pocket and yanked it out, shaking his head in an attempt to overcome the shock.

"What's the situation?" Nell's voice asked.

"Black Hole's getting aggressive, and Rachel's been hurt. I'm not sure how bad, but we should get her somewhere safe."

"What? So how bad is- I mean, okay. Let's see... there's a small resort town about fifteen kilometres northwest of your position. Pull back and maintain a perimeter around it, and I'll have a copter rendezvous with you there to pick up Rachel."

"Sounds good."

He could almost see the concern in Nell's bright blue eyes in the silence that followed.

"Max, this sounds bad. I'll try and send some reinforcements your way, but you might be on your own for a while. Things just keep getting worse with Blue Moon, and most of our troops are needed along the border."

"I don't think they'll go too far from the coast. Didn't look like they had a whole lot of long range support. I get the feeling they more were trying to defend their outpost."

"I can't believe the Bolt Guard recovered enough to build a Black Cannon already. It doesn't seem possible. Not without Lash."

"We, uh, thought about that. It looks like the troops belong to someone from the Second Great War, not the Bolt Guard."

Nell went quiet again. "So it's not the Bolt Guard, but Black Hole is back."

"Yeah, something like that."

The tanks had caught up to the rest of Max's force. Every vehicle had turned around and was moving inland at a steady pace. There was no idle chatter, only the incessant drone of engines and clanking of treads.

"I want to brief the other COs on this and try to figure out a course of action." Nell paused. "Let's do it this afternoon. Can you have a command post set up by then?"

Max threw a glance back towards the beach. The grey tanks and soldiers were retreating over the hills, apparently unwilling to leave the Black Cannon's protection.

"Doesn't look like they're giving chase. I think we'll be fine out here for a little while."

"Okay then. And Max? Try not to do anything too rash."

He smiled and shook his head. "Got it. Max out."

Max replaced the radio in his pocket and looked back up. All around them were grassy plains, dotted with small trees and bushes. Just ahead he could see a thin strip of tarmac, a lonely road that would lead them straight to the sleepy coastal town.

Looking over his shoulder again, he saw that the Black Hole troops had vanished behind the hills. He could no longer see the wreckage from the brief battle, and the smoke had dissipated, leaving the blue sky perfectly pure. If it weren't for the dark dome of the cannon peaking above the hills, it could have been mistaken for a perfectly ordinary morning.


	3. Hard Council

Orange Star's Commander Nell waited alone in the conference room, staring out the window with distant eyes and her button nose almost touching the glass. She was perfectly calm, even though the meeting had been set for four thirty and it was now a quarter to five. It was understandable. Considering the troubles their country faced – the mess they somehow had to deal with – it was a miracle she had been able to arrange a meeting at all.

Her face was still like the surface of a pond as she watched over the traffic passing in the dark canyon below. The view from the twelfth floor of the military headquarters was largely blocked by the multitude of towers and skyscrapers in the heart of the capital, and so the only way to look was down. Cars rushed back and forth through the shadowed maze, ferrying people home after a long day's work. Nell only wished she could allow herself the same luxury.

She brushed a speck of dust from one of the buttons of her suit, barely aware of what her hand was doing. She was about to adjust her small garrison cap when the door eased open without a sound, and a young woman with shoulder length red hair marched into the room. Her posture was ramrod straight, and her brown eyes moved to Nell without betraying any emotion. She was dressed in dark green military fatigues, although instead of wearing the top half, she opted for a short white tank top that bared her midriff a little. Around her neck was a pair of dog tags, the glinting metal a perfect match for the steely determination in her eyes.

"I'm glad you got here safely, Sami," Nell said, offering her a warm smile. "You didn't have any trouble?"

"None, ma'am." Sami took a seat and put her arms at her sides, still holding herself rigid. "Everything's quiet over east. At least for the moment."

Nell nodded, the movement barely noticeable in the darkening light. Her azure eyes remained fixed on the street far beneath even as a flatscreen covering half of the wall behind her came to life, an image of Max's broad face spread across its surface.

"How you two doing?" He shouted at them. He had to be loud to make himself heard over the dozens of vehicles mobilising at his back.

"We're doing okay," Sami replied with a small grin. "How about you? It sounds like you had a bit of excitement down at the beach."

Max's expression blackened. "Yeah, you could say that. Anyway, we ready to start the meeting?"

Nell turned away from the window with a smooth toss of her long blonde hair. "Well, we're just waiting on-"

She broke off as a boy dressed all in red raced into the room and slammed into a seat. He was out of breath and his dark brown hair was splayed in all directions, but he barely seemed to notice as he pulled his chair up to the table and broke out a grin.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Max shook his head. "Andy, are you ever gonna learn to read a clock?"

"It wasn't my fault! All the lifts were broken and I had to take the stairs up twelve floors!"

Sami stared at him in bewilderment. "The lifts aren't broken. I just took one."

"Huh?" Andy's head darted around wildly. "Then why did they look so weird…?"

Nell gave a small, weary smile. "In any case, I guess we can make a start now." She turned to Andy and Sami. "As you both know, Max and Rachel headed south to wipe out a small band of Black Hole troops, one we thought was just another remnant from the Omega War."

"Where's Rachel?" Andy asked, frowning. "Shouldn't she be here?"

"I'll get to that in a minute," Nell advised him. "As I was saying, what they found was something very different. Max?"

"The forces weren't Bolt Guard scraps," Max said bluntly. The screen flickered, for a moment making it appear as though he had three eyes. "They were brand new troops, and they looked like the ones we fought in the Second Great War, back when Sturm was in power."

"Did you find out who's commanding them?" Sami asked.

"They weren't exactly in a talking mood. Rachel and I got fired on when they saw us watching 'em, and we barely got out of there. Rachel's been airlifted back to the city with a broken ankle and concussion."

"The bottom line," Nell interrupted him, "is that we were wrong when we thought we'd finished Black Hole."

"Couldn't these guys just be from the second war?" Andy suggested. "Maybe they've been hiding out somewhere and didn't know it was all over."

Max looked at his friend and shook his head. "Andy, they had a Black Cannon."

Sami blinked in surprise before turning and pinning Nell with an accusing stare. "Someone built a Black Cannon inside Orange Star's borders and we didn't even know about it?"

"Most of our surveillance satellites are pointed at Blue Moon," Nell explained, helplessness and worry spilling from her eyes. "There was no reason to be watching an isolated stretch of our own coast. And to be honest, it's beside the point. What we need to focus on is the fact that Black Hole has somehow recovered significant military capabilities, and it looks like they've got their sights set on Orange Star. Again."

"So we need to be ready to repel an invasion," Sami surmised.

"We need to be ready to repel two," Nell corrected.

"I still don't get it," Andy said, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "If it's not the Bolt Guard behind this, then who's left? Hawke and Sturm are dead, and it can't be…"

"We never did find out what happened to Flak or Adder," Nell offered, saving Andy from having to say the name.

Sami snorted and rolled her eyes. "I think we all know that brute Flak doesn't have the brains to plan anything more complicated than breakfast."

"Adder, then," Nell suggested, undeterred by Sami's scorn. "He's a competent commander and able strategist. Plotting an invasion wouldn't be beyond him."

"Yeah…" Max squinted a little as he considered the idea. "But why? I mean, Adder's the type to hold a grudge, but he was barely in Orange Star. Seems like he'd rather be messin' with Yellow Comet or going after Grit. What's he got against us?"

A medium tank drove past behind Max, and they all fell silent. Andy was staring at the polished wooden table with wide eyes, and next to him Sami's lips were set together more tightly than normal. The lack of answers was troubling. There were too many pieces missing from the puzzle, too much they didn't understand. Worse, there was the unspoken fear that something greater had already begun. They would have to make their choices without any comprehension of the magnitude of what they were facing, and they all knew how dangerous that could be.

"I think we should wipe out these Black Hole troops," Max said. "Get rid of 'em before they can do any harm."

Nell raised an eyebrow. "You'll need reinforcements."

"Pull a few squads from the border and I'll have these guys off our land in no time."

"Andy, Sami, I want you two to head back out to the Blue Moon border. Just… keep waiting, and give Max the troops he needs."

"Yes ma'am," Sami said.

"What will you do, Nell?" Andy asked.

"First I'm going to contact Green Earth and Yellow Comet. Hopefully they haven't abandoned our alliance and will be willing to lend their assistance. Then, I think I'll pay a visit to Thornfield."

Max stirred at the name of Orange Star's highest security prison. "You sure that's necessary?"

Nell looked straight into Max's eyes. "We have no idea who's behind Black Hole's resurgence, or what their goal is. Let's face it, we need more information."

"And no one knows more about Black Hole than-" Sami cut herself off before she could say the name. There were still a lot of painful memories from the last war.

Max stared back at Nell, his strong jaw set in an apprehensive line. "Just take care of yourself. Who knows what that twisted nut job might say."

"Don't worry about me," Nell said with a forced smile. "You're the one who's got the hard task ahead."

The only reply she received was a broad grin before Max terminated the connection and the screen went black.

"Do either of you have any questions?" Nell asked, turning back to Andy and Sami.

"No ma'am."

Andy shook his head. "Nope! This'll be easy!"

"Well, I hope you'll at least remember to take this seriously," Nell commented, before shaking her head a little and sighing. "I'll contact you again as soon as I learn anything new. Dismissed."

They left with only the sounds of muffled footsteps and creaking chairs, and Nell was once again alone with the sunset.

For a time she stood there like a statue, letting idle thoughts and fears run rampant through her mind. She glanced down at the gleaming wood of the table and at the thick file resting on it. She could not prevent the twist of disbelief that crossed her pretty lips. It had been weeks, and still the whole mess seemed absurd.

Nell had never been under any illusions about what their alliance had meant to Blue Moon. It was a pact born of necessity, nothing more. And yet, somehow it had still shocked her when they had accused Orange Star of violating the terms of the Allied Nations Charter. Orange Star had denied the charges and thrown back a few choice accusations of their own, but Green Earth and Yellow Comet were still refusing to comment either way. All the bonds between them dissolved in a heartbeat as every nation tried to justify where they stood. The lines between them had been drawn, turned into cracks, and deepened.

The worst part of it was seeing what it had done to Rachel. After Omega Land, Rachel had been elated. She had been so proud of the way she had led the Allied Nations and of everything the four countries had accomplished by working together. Seeing everything fall apart not six months later – all the battle-forged friendships cast aside and forgotten – had cut her to the bone. Even now Rachel remained a voice of hope, counting on Sasha and Colin to resolve things peacefully. Nell sighed. If it did come to war, she did not like to think about what it might do to her little sister.

"Commander Nell!"

She glanced up and saw that two men in suits and dark sunglasses had taken up a position on either side of the door.

"The President of Orange Star."

Nell blinked as the man in the midnight blue suit strode into the room, looking every bit as tired as she felt. "Mr. President, sir."

"Please, Commander, there's no need to stand on ceremony."

"Of course not, sir."

Nell glanced over the President with a wary eye, wondering why he had declined to advise her of this visit. There were dark bags under President Hale's eyes and a sadness, a sort of solemn dignity in his bearing. She was not surprised. Hale had been elected three years ago, and in that time Nell had watched as he led their country through three wars and emerged a better man for it. The very idea of the Allied Nations had been his, and seeing it all go up in smoke… Nell knew exactly what kind of toll it would be taking. She had done as just as much to build the alliance behind the scenes even as Hale made the official overtures.

"What is it you wanted to see me about, sir?" She asked at last.

The President had put his hands in his pockets and turned to face the window, and Nell could not glean any hint of his intent. "I read your report. I want to know what you're thinking."

"We've already started putting plans in place for a counterattack. The Black Hole outpost should be destroyed within the next few days."

"The outpost." A rueful laugh escaped from Hale. "A Black Cannon on our shores suggests a significant threat to national security. If this is the herald of something greater…" he paused. "Have you made any progress in discerning whether or not these forces came from Omega Land?"

"A little. We're confident that they weren't part of the Omega War, and we have reason to believe they're under the command of someone from the Second Great War. Or at least someone connected to it."

Hale's steel grey hair bobbed a little, signifying his acknowledgement. "And you realise your mobilisation's already been noticed? We've been questioned about it by the media, wondering what the military's doing down by the beach. If anyone looks any closer, there's a good chance they'll catch wind of this."

There was something in the President's voice that made Nell pause. Experience had taught her to recognise the terse undercurrent that crept into Hale's voice when he was worried, but this was something else entirely. "I can have Commander Max keep a tight lid on things if you like."

"No. I want this story to break."

And there it was. Nell could see that the President had an agenda in mind, and now she had a good idea what it was.

"There'll be a panic, sir."

At last Hale turned to face her, his lined face inscrutable. "I know. But we have to look at the bigger picture." He gave a sigh that was like a dam bursting and ran a hand through his hair, all at once looking human again. "I've requested a summit meeting with the Chancellor of Green Earth and Emperor Kanbei of Yellow Comet. Olaf too. I want to try and smooth things over, and perhaps even keep our alliance intact." The President bowed his head a little and straightened his scarlet tie. "To that end, I want to present a full briefing on this incident. Black Hole has given our countries common cause before. Maybe it can do so again. And if news of a resurgence breaks independently of the administration, hopefully it won't look like we've manufactured the threat."

"I'm sure Olaf will accuse you of that regardless," Nell murmured.

"Maybe so. But we've nothing to lose by trying."

"I'll make sure to keep you in the loop, then."

Hale nodded a few times, then made to leave. As he came to the doorway he stopped, and turned back to look at her one last time. "Nell… I want you to know, you have my full confidence."

She smiled a little, though such a small thing was not nearly enough to mask her fears. "Thank you, sir."

And with that, the President and his men were gone.

At first Nell closed her eyes and merely let the silence and the emptiness wash over her. There was something peaceful about it, something elusive she could not quite keep hold of. She sighed, telling herself it was foolish. She could rest later. For now, there was still far too much that needed to be done. She had a trip to prepare for, and it could not wait.

Not even for a moment.


	4. Echoes Down the Hall

Nell walked through the stark white corridor, all the troubles of recent days weighing upon her plain to see. Coming to a security door, she showed her ID to the guard and was allowed to pass. She strode on, her high heels clacking against the floor in a rapid beat. Her golden hair bounced lightly, but it could not offset the depth of the worry in her blue eyes.

She came to another security door. This one was barely recognisable as a door at all – to the naked eye it looked like nothing more than a solid sheet of metal. There were two fully armed Special Forces veterans standing outside, one of whom nodded as Nell approached.

"You got business with that piece of scum in there, ma'am?"

Nell sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Well, you know the drill."

To enter the inner sanctum of Thornfield, it would take a lot more than simple ID. First, Nell leant over and looked straight at a small camera next to the door. A ping sounded once the retina scan was complete. Then, she pressed her hand against a small panel that would scan for fingerprints, take her pulse and conduct a host of other checks not even she knew the full extent of. Once all that was satisfied, the only remaining protocol was to speak a password into a sensitive microphone. If it detected the slightest anomaly in her voice, the door would remain shut. Of course, there was none, and once all the scans were complete she was given a positive beep.

"You're clear to go through, Commander."

The door slid sideways into the wall with a rumble like distant thunder and she walked through. Nell had barely taken two steps before it closed again. She didn't look back at the heavy door. It was half a metre thick, designed to keep in the worst of the worst and keep out anyone that might try to free them. It would have taken a Black Hole Neotank to break through it. Beyond the door the corridor continued, stark, white, and soulless.

Nell stopped partway down the corridor, just outside one of the reinforced cell doors. A strange expression flittered across her face. It was not the destination that had brought her to Thornfield, but she could nevertheless feel it tugging at her. There was a small slit in the door, a pitiful excuse of a window made from bulletproof glass. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Nell put her eyes to the slit and peered through.

The room inside was flat and empty. There were no windows, and the source of the harsh light was indistinguishable from the walls. The only furniture was a low bed built into the floor. It was the kind of prison only the most dangerous of criminals might warrant.

In spite of this the room's occupant did not look particularly threatening. She was a thin, pale teenage girl with a shock of wild black hair standing out in all directions. Her arms were locked away in a straitjacket, and she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at a wall. Her dark eyes were constantly moving, dancing over the empty wall as if she could see things beyond the sight of ordinary mortals, utterly enthralled by the power of her own imagination. Her pouty lips moved in time with the motion of her eyes, driven by a manic frenzy that was impossible to understand.

Unsettled by what she saw, Nell turned away and kept walking.

After the end of the Omega War it had seemed as though there was hope for Lash, the wunderkind inventor of Black Hole. With Hawke dead after the final battle it had fallen to Orange Star to give her a home. It had seemed so easy, so promising. Even though she had been sceptical of Lash's redemption from the beginning, Nell couldn't help but marvel at how just how quickly everything had gone sour.

It had all started when Olaf learned what was to become of Lash. A month after the former Black Hole Commander had taken up residence in Orange Star, Blue Moon had demanded her extradition on charges of war crimes. While Lash had certainly committed horrible atrocities, she had also helped a great deal towards the end of the last war. Certainly no one wanted her to face a firing squad. The refusal had only angered Olaf, and relations between Orange Star and Blue Moon had been worsening ever since. All the smouldering grudges, hastily buried in the name of survival, had sparked to life once more. Perhaps there was still a chance for things to turn around. Knowing all too well what a stubborn idiot Olaf could be, somehow Nell doubted it.

As for Lash herself, at first it seemed like she truly had changed. She had managed to put her intellect towards more constructive ends, and shown a childlike wonder at some of the things life in Orange Star had to offer. She had even struck up a strange friendship with Andy as the two of them tinkered with all sorts of machines. For one single, fleeting moment, she had seemed almost… whole.

Olaf had destroyed that as well. The rising tensions had affected everyone, but Lash most of all. Nell wasn't sure if it was because Lash saw nothing to apologise for in her past or because she had actually begun to feel remorse for her deeds, but either way, her moods had grown darker and more volatile. Soon after one of her experiments put sixteen soldiers in hospital for a week. They had placed restrictions on her, tightened her leash, but Lash had treated it all as a game. Guarding her had become much too dangerous as she took more and more delight in outfoxing her wardens. Eventually there had been no choice but to confine her to Thornfield. Nell sighed. Maybe it would have been easier for everyone if they had just given Olaf what he wanted.

Nell stopped again as she came to another cell door, one with two commandos stationed outside. Behind this door was the single most vile person in the entire facility, and the man Nell had come to see.

"You've prepared the prisoner?"

"Yes ma'am. He's all ready. Seemed real interested to hear he'd be having a visitor."

"I bet he was. Well, I suppose there's nothing to gain by waiting."

Taking her hint, one of the guards put a hand to his radio. "Central, this is Blackwatch. Open up Cell I7."

"Opening up Cell I7."

A small light on the right side of the door changed from red to green, and there was an audible hiss as air escaped around the frame. The guard who had spoken leant over and opened the door while the other covered the room with his rifle. Once they were sure everything was in order, a quick gesture and nod gave Nell the all clear and she stepped inside.

Inside it looked much the same as Lash's cell, with the exception of a table and two chairs sitting in the middle of the room. They had been placed there exclusively for Nell's visit. Seated on the far side of the table was an ancient, wrinkled old man with sagging jowls and a rotund frame, his portly figure straining against the light blue prison suit he wore. His eyes were tiny black beads that locked onto her the second she entered the cell and refused to back down, a palpable menace smoking in their depths. He did not speak, merely watching and waiting.

Nell ignored the man while she pulled out the opposite chair and took a seat. She made a point of straightening her purple skirt and refused to look at the prisoner until she had smoothed her hair and neatened her hat. Once she felt ready, she set a small recording device on the table and looked the old man in the eye, her face devoid of emotion.

"I hope you're in the mood to talk."

"Why… should I talk to you?" His voice was raspy and dry, like sandpaper rubbed across rock.

Nell's eyes were cold as winter itself as she matched his black gaze. "I'll be honest with you. The only reason you're still alive is because Orange Star believes that you might be of some use."

He said nothing, just inhaled with a faint squeak.

"We found something interesting when we tested your DNA," she said, deciding to change tactics. "You committed atrocities long before the Omega War, didn't you, Von Bolt?"

Still he refused to speak, but his eyes narrowed just enough to show Nell she had found the leverage she needed.

"You fought in the wars of old, in the Cataclysm. Your conduct was brutal even by the standards of Green Earth's former regime. You were responsible for half a dozen war crimes. And when the war turned against your country, you deserted and disappeared rather than face death with any sort of dignity." She clasped her hands together on the table. "As I said, the only reason you're here is because you might prove useful. If – as your silence suggests – that's not the case, you will be sent back to your homeland." She paused. "And you'll be hanged."

The old man's mouth twitched a little. "No one has come to see me… hhhhh… until now. Why… is it you are here?"

"I need your help," Nell said, making an effort to keep her voice steady.

"My help?" He laughed, a slow and hollow sound that quickly metamorphosed into a violent cough. Sucking in air with a wheeze, he eventually caught his breath and continued. "Why… would I wish to help you?"

"Fine. Don't tell me what I want to know. The next meeting you have will be with a noose."

His expression fell a little, and his dried lips parted as he mulled that over. "You want… information." He took a painful, gurgling breath. "And if I… hhhhh… tell you what I know…"

"You get to live. That's what you care about most, isn't it?" Nell was unable to suppress a hint of disgust from sneaking into her voice. "Do we have a deal?"

The old man didn't reply, instead staring at the table as if totally absorbed in his own thoughts. The room was quiet, the only sound his hideous breathing.

"No," he said after a while. It was the most resolute he had sounded yet. "I want something… more."

"I'm not going to give you your freedom, Von Bolt. I'm not even going to consider moving you to another facility. You're either getting small mercies or none at all."

"I do not expect any of that," he replied with a slow, drawn out chuckle. "I want… hhhhh… to play a game. Every time I answer one of your questions… you must answer one of mine. Do you agree?"

Nell stared at him, hoping he could not see how bewildered she felt. "Why?"

He laughed again, more menacingly this time. "Because… I have something you want. Which means… I have power over you. I had power over all Black Hole and all Omega Land… hhhhh… until your pathetic Allied Nations took it away. Now this paltry power… is all I have, and I will savour it."

Nell hesitated, reassuring herself that this withered old man could not be dangerous, no matter how much malevolence lurked in his beady eyes. She was amazed at how utterly unrepentant the man was. His twisted scheme to leech the energy from an entire continent and kill untold amounts of life all for the sake of prolonging his own existence still seemed like a deranged fiction. Nell was no stranger to cruelty or evil, but Von Bolt still managed to frighten her, truly frighten her down to the depths of her soul. Simply knowing that a human being could become such an abhorrent monster terrified her far more than she cared to admit.

"Fine," she said at last. "I'll play your little game, provided you cooperate."

His lips twitched strangely, an intermittent jerk visible at their sagging corners. Nell suppressed a shiver as she realised that Von Bolt was trying to smile.

"How did you come to lead the Black Hole Army?"

"You… hhhhh… waste your question," he hissed.

Nell's eyes grew colder. "Just answer."

"As you wish. I had… watched the world for many years. Waited. In strife… hhhhh… I saw potential. When the Black Hole Army was… broken… in Macro Land, I made… hhhhh… my move."

"You'll have to do better than that," she observed.

Von Bolt twitched and coughed. "Insolent woman. Will you not… allow me to finish?"

Nell raised a single eyebrow. "Go on, then."

"I followed… hhhhh… Hawke to Omega Land. I took my loyal few into the camp and… claimed what was my right."

"Hawke didn't try to stop you?"

"He was… weak." He laughed and sucked in a further breath. "Ill at ease… hhhhh… with what he had become. He had not the strength to… lead."

Nell leant back as she considered that. The circumstance of Hawke's fall from power was perhaps the greatest enigma about the change in Black Hole after the Second Great War. Von Bolt's explanation was not particularly satisfying. The man who had murdered Sturm and callously dismissed the greatest war in decades as nothing more than a test of his own ability could hardly be described as ill at ease with himself. Then again, by all reports Hawke had been almost a different man in Omega Land. Something had happened to him in between the wars, something more than guilt. The Hawke who had conquered half of Green Earth would surely not have been so easily overcome by a fit of conscience. But if not that, what was it that left him so changed?

Nell sighed and dismissed the thought. Much as she might have liked an answer, Hawke was the one person who couldn't be behind the latest attack. She had to focus on those whose fates were still a mystery.

"Now…" Von Bolt's eyes flared – "you must answer me. How is… hhhhh… the boy?"

"The boy?" Nell queried, even though she was fairly certain who Von Bolt was referring to.

He scowled. "Jake. How is… Jake?"

"Commander Jake is no longer affiliated with the Orange Star Armed Forces. He retired in order to assist the reconstruction effort in his homeland."

Von Bolt chuckled a little at that, wrinkles of flesh obscuring his eyes. Nell took a short breath and went straight to her next question.

"What happened to Flak and Adder when you took command?"

He blinked several times, apparently confused. Nell was about to repeat the question when he sucked in a tortured breath and spoke.

"They were… superfluous."

"That wasn't the question."

Von Bolt tried to snort only for it to mutate into a wheeze. "Very… hhhhh… well. I had no need for them. I had Kindle… remove them from command. After that, they left, and I did not… hhhhh… care where they went."

Nell wondered if he was lying. It seemed far more likely that Flak and Adder were somewhere out in the wastes, buried in a shallow grave. Perhaps by claiming to have shown some scant degree of mercy the former Black Hole leader hoped to appear more reasonable. She soon dismissed the notion. Past events had made it perfectly clear that Von Bolt gave nothing that did not serve his own mad ends even a moment's thought. Presumably that included Flak and Adder.

"Tell me… of Hawke's fate," he hissed, his voice dropping. "Has he joined me in this… hhhhh… infernal place?"

"Hawke is dead."

A sudden spasm rocked the old man. "Dead? He robs me… of my revenge? Bah!" Coughing briefly Von Bolt looked away, before fixing Nell with a deadly stare. "How. How did he die?"

"He was killed in the collapse of your base, during the last battle," Nell said with a shrug. "Moving along, what contingency plans did you have in place in case your plot to drain the life from Omega Land failed?"

He squinted at her. "Contingency…" he began to laugh, the sound thin and painful. "My plan… hhhhh… was perfect. Why would I need another?"

"Oh, I don't know," Nell said in a dry voice. "In case things didn't go as planned? Perhaps if the Allied Nations destroyed your Black Obelisks, captured you, threw you in a cell, and charged you with more war crimes than anyone else in history?"

He snarled at her, revealing yellow and cracked teeth jutting from sickly pale gums. "It should not have… hhhhh… hhhhh… happened. Your feeble forces should not have been able to stop me. It was per-"

The outburst proved too much for him, and he collapsed into a slump, bowing his head as he spluttered and coughed. Nell watched without sympathy. Considering what the man had inflicted on the world, there was very little suffering he did not deserve.

"So you had no backup plan."

What little energy was left to Von Bolt seemed to have faded away, leaving him staring at the table with eyes that were dark and dead. "I would have been… a god. What god could possibly… hhhhh… fail?"

Nell felt herself sinking into the marsh of unease festering in her stomach. Von Bolt was insane. She had known that walking in, but still dared to hope that his time at Thornfield might have rendered him a little more pliant. A foolish hope, she reflected. This rotten husk of a man was too lost in his psychotic delusions to be of any use.

"The Allied Nations," he said, his eyes still unmoving. "How do they fare?"

"Same old, same old," Nell answered, feeling a strange tingle run through her like the touch of a ghost. She only hoped her voice held enough he wouldn't notice the lie. "We get along peacefully, something Black Hole doesn't seem capable of."

A small grunt echoed from deep within Von Bolt, but he did not move a muscle. Eager to move on, Nell leant forwards and clenched her hands together.

"Did you ever station any troops outside of Omega Land? In Cosmo Land, perhaps?"

"Troop deployment… was Kindle's concern," he replied in a hoarse voice. "I… hhhhh… do not know."

Nell rolled her eyes. "You were the commander-in-chief. Kindle did nothing you didn't approve of. Answer the question."

Von Bolt grunted. "No. I… had no need… hhhhh… to do so. No wish… to attract such attention. These questions," he whispered, his voice growing still more hoarse. "Your purpose… hhhhh… Black Hole has returned?"

She blinked. "Yes."

He let loose another horrible, wheezing laugh. "They come. My Bolt Guard… come for me."

"No, actually. It seems to be someone else." Nell allowed herself a modest smile. "The Bolt Guard have vanished. Apparently, your fate doesn't concern them."

His pitted brow shifted, but he said nothing.

"One more question," Nell said, deciding that she'd had enough of playing. "Sturm. What can you tell me about him?"

Von Bolt's eyes twitched and lolled. "That thing… is dead."

"Thing?" Nell could not suppress a bitter little laugh. "How rich, coming from you."

"Enough. I say… hhhhh… enough!" Flecks of spittle fell from his lips as he began to shake and quiver. "Begone. Bego-" He broke into another coughing fit, more intense than any that had come before.

Nell watched with dispassionate eyes. Was it anger that made him quake like this, or was it something else? The old man was difficult to read. Still, whatever emotion had provoked it, his reaction was certainly interesting. By his own admission, he had only come to take command of Black Hole well after Sturm was dead, yet the mere mention of him was enough to elicit a violent response.

Inhaling deeply as if it was the first breath she had ever taken, Nell got to her feet and slipped the recording device into her pocket. There was nothing more to be gained here. Truth be told, she was not certain that she had gained anything at all. Only an inkling. Even so, with a little luck it might turn into something more. Perhaps, just perhaps, Von Bolt had given her an important clue without even knowing it.

The door slid open at her signal. She had only taken a single step when a croak at her back made her pause.

"You will… hhhhh… honour our agreement," Von Bolt whispered. "You will let me… live?"

Nell closed her eyes, a fresh wave of disgust coming over her.

Then she walked away without another word.


	5. Orange Sunset

Sami stood beneath an orange sky whose fringes were tinged with violet, watching as the setting sun disappeared beneath the sea in a blaze of fire. She stood with her arms crossed, clasped so tight against her slender frame the tone of her muscles stood out like chiselled rock. Behind her a vast array of tents, soldiers and vehicles were clustered around a small military base, its grounds ringed by a barbed wire fence. The base was only a small border outpost, home to little more than a hundred soldiers. It was only during the last week that it had become a major staging area for Orange Star's deployment of troops along the Blue Moon border, and only in direct response to increasing troop exercises on the other side. Troop exercises that provided a convenient cover story for preparations to invade.

Sami shivered as the cold evening breeze washed over her from the sea, sending a prickle of goosebumps across her bare arms. The darkening light glinted off her brown eyes as they stared across the ocean and past the sunset as if seeing some possible future beyond. _Hold your position_. For over a week now, that was the only order she'd been given. Apart from the brief flight back to the capital for the conference with the other COs, all she'd done was hold position. It wasn't the waiting that bothered her. Sami could have spent weeks enduring all manner of hardship without breaking a sweat. What made her skin crawl and stomach churn was the uncertainty. Not knowing what was coming did not sit well with her, and the fear that she might not be ready to face it lurked at the edge of her consciousness like a malevolent ghost.

She gritted her teeth. No matter what happened or what sprang at her from the darkness, failure was simply not an option.

"Commander Sami! There's a communique coming through from Commander Andy."

"What?" Sami's gaze locked onto to the soldier standing behind her. "Did he say what it was about?"

"No ma'am. The signal's only just come through."

"Understood. Thank you, private."

Sami pivoted about and set off up the gentle slope, sand and scrub grass crunching beneath her heavy boots. Her pace was swift but measured, and by the time she reached the command post at the southern edge of the camp, there was only the faintest hint of red to her cheeks.

The main computer at the command post was set to standby. With a flick of her finger Sami accepted the incoming transmission and leant over the screen as it flashed to life.

"What's the situation, Andy?"

The boy in question was staring straight ahead with a vacant light in his big eyes. "Huh? The situation?"

Sami closed her eyes and took a short breath. "What's this communication about, Andy? Why do you need to talk to me? Has something happened?"

His eyebrows rose. "Oh. Oh! Sure, I get what you mean. Well, I lost my toothbrush. That happened."

"You lost…" Sami found herself at a complete loss for words. Confusion, frustration and irritation all struggled to show themselves before she gave up and buried her face in her hands. She took several deep breaths to steady herself, making no attempt to hide the nascent scowl on her lips. "This isn't a joke, Andy! We're facing war with Blue Moon at a time when we can't afford –" She stopped as she realised Andy was watching her with a smirk plastered across his lips.

"Relax, Sami," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I know. I'm not that dumb."

Sami sighed and bowed her head, feeling suddenly very tired. "What is it you actually wanted, then?"

He shrugged. "I just wanted to talk. It's boring waiting out here."

"Oh."

"So have you heard anything from Max?" He asked.

Sami shook her head. "No. Why, have you?"

"Nope, just thought I'd ask. I can't believe he gets to blow up a Black Cannon while we just sit here doing nothing."

Sami didn't answer. Max's attack on the Black Hole army had been scheduled for that afternoon. There was no reason to think it hadn't gone according to plan, and certainly no reason he should have contacted them so soon. Max knew how to handle himself. Even so, the whole situation felt somehow… wrong. The past week was a blur of unexpected events. The past week, the last six months – hell, make that the last three years, Sami corrected herself. Ever since the beginning of Olaf's invasion it seemed like the whole world had gone mad. Who among them could even guess what might happen next?

Something flickered in Sami's eyes, and her brow creased. "Andy… don't you think this all seems a bit odd? That Black Hole's come back now, just as we're staring down Blue Moon?"

"I don't know." Andy's head tilted to one side. "I guess. What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. The timing just seems a little suspicious."

"What, you think they're working together?" He frowned. "I thought the whole reason we're in this mess is because Olaf hates Black Hole so much."

Sami hesitated. "I know. It doesn't make sense. It just feels so wrong that all of this is happening at once. Doesn't this whole debacle feel wrong to you, Andy? After all we've been through, doesn't it bother you that we might go to war with Blue Moon?"

Another shrug. "Not really. It might be kind of fun."

"Fun?" Sami glared at him. "Andy, if this blows up, a lot of people are going to die. Our friends – on both sides – are going to be in danger! Don't you get that?"

"Well… yeah," he said, his voice falling quiet. "But it's not like I can fix things between Orange Star and Blue Moon. All we can do is make the most of it and try to save as many people as we can."

"I thought you could fix anything," Sami retorted, the sudden burst of anger still gnawing at her.

Andy grinned. "Yeah, things like cars and tanks and a washing machine that one time, not people being angry. I'm not one of those guys who makes countries get along."

"A diplomat?"

"A what?" Andy's lack of comprehension was written on his face plain as day.

Sami shook her head. It was the same story time and time again. Just when she started to think that her friend was actually wise beyond his years, he'd blurt out something incredibly stupid and ruin the moment.

"Never mind. I should go."

"Okay." Concern flickered in his eyes. "I didn't upset you, did I?"

Sami forced herself to smile. "No. If I'm upset… it's not because of you."

"Oh, cool. Bye then!"

And with that he was gone, perfectly at ease once again.

Sami stared into the black screen a moment longer, marvelling at how alien Andy's attitude seemed. She envied him sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. Andy could be airheaded, absent, ignorant, and about a hundred similar things, but he could also stumble out of bed at noon, blunder into a battle he knew nothing about, and immediately weave a strategy that would have made officers three times his age jealous. It wasn't training, knowledge, or practice that made Andy a great commander; it was pure instinct. Sami had asked him many times how he came up with his tactics, but he always gave the same answer: a sheepish grin, a scratch of his head, and the explanation that 'he just did'. Sami wondered if Andy had ever really doubted himself, if he had ever worried that he might not win a battle yet to come.

She was still standing lost in thought when one of the officers nearby turned directly towards her, his face shot through by a look of horror.

"Commander… we're picking up signals to the south."

Sami's eyes snapped to him. "What kind of signals, lieutenant?"

He swallowed. "Airborne, ma'am."

"What?" Sami was flooded with shock, but her expression didn't so much as waver. "How can that be possible?"

"I… I don't know, Commander."

Sami's brow creased as she crossed her arms over her chest. "How many signals are you getting?"

"Almost fifty, all airborne. It looks like a full aerial assault, Commander Sami – ma'am," the lieutenant answered, his eyes bulging as he said her name and just as quickly realised his gaffe.

He was nervous, Sami realised, and no wonder. This was completely unexpected. No, worse than that, it was something that shouldn't have even been possible. At the southern end of their shared border Blue Moon's territory was mountainous and rough. It was a region where rural towns were few and far between, let alone cities or airfields. They didn't have the facilities in range to support a major aerial offensive across the border. Aircraft carriers were a possibility, but Orange Star's intel had confirmed that all of Blue Moon's carriers were stationed on the longer northern coast, where most of their naval facilities were located, or abroad. This couldn't be an intelligence mishap like with the Black Cannon, either; Blue Moon's southwest coast was a tiny strip of land between Orange Star and Green Earth, and only contained a single major port. There was simply nowhere for them to hide a full assault fleet.

"How far away from us is the aerial force?" Sami asked. She wasn't going to solve the riddle, and there was certainly no point dwelling on it.

"Five… maybe ten minutes. We weren't prepared to scan for anything like this."

"I understand. Good work, lieutenant," she said, forcing a smile in an attempt to reassure him. "Listen up, everyone!" She shouted across the command post. "We've got a force of bogeys inbound. ETA in five to ten minutes. Given our position, I'm going to assume their intent is hostile and we're about to come under attack. Now we're not well equipped to handle an assault of this scale, so I'm ordering most of our troops to fall back. Our anti-air tanks and missile units will stay behind along with some foot soldiers. Oh, and put out a call for help. We're going to need support ASAP."

"What's your plan, Commander?" Another officer asked.

"Our anti-air units will stay behind to engage the foe. We're not going to win the battle, but we need to buy time for the rest of our forces to retreat and hopefully get out of the enemy's operational range. We need to keep these planes occupied as long as we can for that to happen, so we'll need infantry too. Their job is to run interference, provide cover and draw enemy fire away from our anti-air. Eight squads should be enough. Understood?"

"Understood, ma'am."

Her orders given, Sami could only watch as the army was galvanised into action. She felt a surge of pride alongside the cold anticipation of the battle to come. Even now, caught completely off guard, her troops reacted calmly and quickly, the emergency retreat carried out as if it had been planned. Sami might not have been able to spend as much time working with Special Forces as she would have liked, but even in an army this size her soldiers were drilled to be the best in Orange Star. She had every confidence that the men and women under her command were up to the challenge before them, no matter how outmatched they were.

Over the ocean a cluster of dark shapes was coming into view, a jagged tear of darkness against the fiery sunset. At their current distance the planes seemed so tiny they could have passed for a far off flock of birds, completely indistinguishable as individual shapes. That would change all too soon.

"ETA on the enemy air force?" She asked.

"Three minutes, ma'am."

"Get those missiles into the woods. They could use the cover." She frowned. "Any details on the enemy force's composition?"

"One moment, Commander… looks like a combination of bombers and fighters."

Interesting, Sami thought. Their enemy had deployed a mixed force for ground and air attack despite the fact that she didn't have any airborne assets under her command beyond the odd light copter. They didn't know what they were up against. They might have known exactly where to find her forces and been able to launch a surprise attack, but there were gaps in their intel. Sami's frown let up a little as she decided that the enemy seemed a little less threatening now.

Leaning forward, she activated the com. "All units, this is Commander Sami. The enemy force is comprised of fighters and bombers. Everyone, focus your fire on the enemy bombers. I repeat, focus on the bombers."

Sami looked up again to see that the vague shape of the enemy air force had grown, splitting like some malignant virus into individual cells, every one a weapon of war bent on raining destruction down upon Orange Star. They were close enough now for her to see that they were not Blue Moon aircraft like she had assumed. It wasn't the colour that gave them away. In the orange glow of the sunset blue and grey looked much alike. No, it was the strangely rounded noses and jutting, squared wings on the smaller fighters, features visibly distinct from the sharp, sleek lines of Blue Moon jets. She knew who the enemy was.

"Black Hole," someone breathed nearby.

"Black Hole," Sami agreed in a solemn voice. Then, with a single flick of her finger she activated the com again and leant forward to speak. "Everyone, this is Sami. Our enemy is Black Hole." She paused and felt a single heartbeat run through her like a shiver. "No mercy."

Sami's eyes roved over the beach as her troops rushed to prepare for the imminent attack, drinking in every detail. It was like she had never seen the terrain before. Just a few minutes ago it had been nothing but a quiet seaside sunset, the kind you might see on a postcard or in a sappy movie. Now it was the staging ground for a desperate battle. Every rise and fall in the landscape, every last scrap of cover could make the difference between life and death. Sami was under no illusions that she could win the one-sided struggle that was about to take place. This wasn't going to be a glorious triumph, only a frantic delaying action that just might buy the rest of her army time to get away. Sami steeled herself with that knowledge. She had her objective, and she'd damn well see it done.

Finally her gaze returned to the approaching air force. Sami's eyes were hard as flint as she stared down the jets as if she could turn them back with nothing but sheer force of will.

"Those missiles," she said, her voice low and terse. "Are they in position?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Right." Sami's eyes remained fixed on the enemy planes, waiting until they were well and truly in range. "Fire!"

The order was sent. A flurry of missiles shot out of the woods and lanced into the front of the enemy formation. Fireballs wracked the line of fighters and bombers as several of the planes were blasted apart or began to fall out of the sky. Sami found herself holding her breath as she waited to see how the foe would react. She didn't dare hope that they would break off the assault after just a bloody nose, but she fully expected them to begin evasive manoeuvres or even pull back to regroup.

They did neither. Some of the jets veered slightly, but they stayed together, hurtling towards the mainland in a screaming mass.

"Infantry, this is Sami. Prepare to run interference. Delta and Echo squads, move west. Charlie, Bravo, get their attention and draw them into the kill zone. Vulcans, standby to engage."

Sami had barely finished giving the orders when the jets crossed the divide between land and sea, and the whole world erupted into a cataclysm of fire and shaking ground.

"Anti-airs, go! Go!"

The anti-air units advanced from their concealed positions, cannons raised. The beach became a battlefield as Sami's troops began trading blows with the Black Hole air force. Sami's eyes darted around. The bombers were surging forward, dropping their payloads indiscriminately. There was no rhyme or reason to their attacks, no pattern or strategy. Not that it mattered. The enemy force was large enough to overwhelm her with nothing but brute force.

"Commander Sami, we're picking up new contacts on an approach vector!"

Sami's stomach lurched. "Let me guess. More planes?"

"No ma'am. Ships."

"What?"

Sami marched over to see the readout for herself. There, on the screen, was a growing cluster of contacts at the southern edge. Sami looked to the horizon. Sure enough, she could make out a dark smear sitting on the sea. She checked the configuration of the vessels. Landers. Suddenly the aimless aerial assault made sense. This wasn't about destroying her army, it was about providing cover for a full-blown invasion. The realisation gripped Sami like a metal vice, but it changed nothing. Even knowing that a landing fleet was bearing down on her position, the air force was the more immediate threat.

The world shook, and the acrid stench of burning grass filled Sami's nostrils. The bombers were moving further inland, closer to her command post. Sami's heartbeat grew faster as she scanned the skies. One of the bombers was heading straight for them.

"Take cover!" She yelled.

Sami sprinted towards the trees, desperately trying to stay aware of where the bombs were falling next. Explosions boomed out and she felt a wave of heat at her back. Then she was into the woods, and safe.

She came to a stop, taking a moment to catch her breath and let her eyes adjust to the gloom. A wall of tree trunks and thick brambles loomed before her, beyond which lurked several vague red shapes. Her missile trucks. Sami threaded her way through the shadows, pushing stray branches aside with her rifle.

"Status, soldier?" She asked, coming up to an infantryman by the missiles.

"We've taken out several bombers, ma'am. Doesn't look like they've spotted us yet."

"Good work. Keep firing for as long as you can. I'm going to get a closer look at things."

Sami kept moving, heading for the pinpricks of amber light out beyond the layers of forest. Driven from her command post she was practically blind; she needed to get a sense of the tactical situation and issue new orders. The trees were thinning when she heard the whine of a jet engine, followed a split second later by a roaring explosion and the smell of smoke. Sami whirled about, but could see nothing clear.

She swore as another blast rocked the woods, setting branches cracking and bathing the shadowed world in fire. The sounds of glass shattering and metal groaning rang out. Sami darted out beyond the edge of the trees, risking a glance upwards. The offending bomber was already coming around for a second pass. If her missiles weren't already destroyed, they soon would be.

"Everyone out of the woods," she screamed. "Now!"

Sprinting hard she raced down the slope to the beach and threw herself into a small ditch. The wind was knocked out of her by the hard landing, but at least she was safe and out of sight. Peeking out from the ditch Sami took in a quick snapshot of the ocean. The enemy boats were drawing closer. Another fifteen minutes and they'd start landing troops. She lifted her com.

"Radar, how many bombers are left?"

There was a spark of garbled static. "Commander Sami-" more static – "half of enemy bomber targets remaining."

Sami closed her eyes, shutting out the battle for one precious second. There was only one option left. They couldn't take out the bombers in time. Her troops had taken too many casualties already. And without getting rid of the bombers, there was no way she could recall the rest of her army to try and repulse the landing fleet. She was caught in an impossible bind. She had no choice but to fall back and hope they could still fight off the Black Hole force after it had entrenched itself on the beach.

Sami pulled herself out of the ditch and quickly surveyed the area. There were barely any of her units left. The scene was a hellish vision of smoke, spot fires and blackened craters. Sami's eyes were heavy with bitterness as she raised her com. She was about to give the order when another blast above made her duck for cover. Her head snapped upwards to see what had happened even as more and more explosions thundered out.

She couldn't help but gasp. The sky was filled with fighter jets in emerald livery, wreaking havoc amongst the unprepared Black Hole air force. For a moment Sami could only watch, stunned. Never, not in a million years, could she have anticipated the unlikely rescue, and yet somehow it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She already knew who was behind the counterattack. Only one person could command air units like that: Eagle, the daring hero of Green Earth. Sami shook her head in disbelief. She hadn't heard from him in months and yet here he was in her hour of need. She felt an odd twinge as she watched the green fighters soaring through the sky, tearing into the enemy with ruthless precision. How, she wondered, would he explain the silence that had come between them since the end of the Omega War?

Sami scowled and dismissed the thought. She could worry about her personal life later. Instead she turned and jogged back over to the command post she had abandoned earlier. The bombs had scattered some of the equipment, but there were still a few consoles intact, if a little charred. Sami hoped the one she needed was still working. She was in luck; the scanning station was not only whole, but functional. Typing rapidly she brought up the data on the ships off the coast. A smile of pure relief broke across her face. They had stopped moving. Some of them had even begun to reverse course. Without the bombers to cover their approach, the landers were turning back.

There was a sudden ping at her back. Instinct kicked in and Sami whirled about, rifle raised, only to find herself threatening the communications console. There was an incoming transmission, that was all. She sighed and lowered her gun, suddenly very thankful that she was the only one at the command post. It seemed she was going to hear from Eagle at last. A strange, uneasy flutter passing through her heart, Sami answered the transmission.

It was not Eagle that greeted her. Sami found herself looking at a hulking giant who wore pair of red goggles and a dark metal helmet.

"Flak!"

A leering grin crossed his broad jaw. "Miss me?"

White hot fury flooded Sami, and she felt her fists clench. "Not a bit, you – you thug!"

"Hah! You missed me."

Bile rose in her throat as Sami fought back the urge to terminate the connection. She didn't want to look at Flak's face for another second. Didn't want to give him the satisfaction of taunting her. But he was the first concrete lead they had about who was behind this Black Hole resurgence, and she had a duty to learn everything she could. Setting her distaste to one side, she fixed the brutish man with her nastiest glare.

"So you were behind this?" She snorted. "I should have known. Only you would forget to check for enemy fighters before sending in your air force."

Flak's grin vanished, replaced by a volatile scowl. "That shouldn't have happened," he breathed. "We're in Orange Star! What's Green Earth doin' here?"

Sami rolled her eyes. Flak made Andy look like a genius. Maybe it was a waste of time trying to get any information out of him. No half-competent commander would expect him to keep any sensitive secrets.

"You think this matters, stopping us here today?" He spat, his gravelly voice barely intelligible. "It doesn't. You ain't won nothing. You got no idea what's coming. Your dumb country's gonna be history."

"That's what you said last time," she shot back. "Didn't quite work out, did it?"

"You got no idea." Flak laughed, a slow, drawn out chuckle that soon overstayed its welcome. "No idea. Be seein' you again soon, girlie. So long."

The screen went dark. Sami let out her breath and slapped the top of the console. He hadn't told her anything useful. Just empty boasting. She stepped back and tried to calm her nerves. They had a face to put to Black Hole now, and that was something. Anyone remotely intelligent would have kept their mouth shut and left her to wonder who had been behind the aborted landing.

Sami nodded to herself. It was a victory. A small one perhaps, but a victory nonetheless. She looked up at the skies, filled with green planes.

And now, at least they knew they weren't alone.


	6. Shaky Alliance

"It is absolutely out of the question!" Eagle exclaimed.

This statement was accompanied by a gloved fist slamming into the polished wood of the conference table before him. He let out his breath in a brief sigh afterwards, a look of mild regret coming across his face as he pulled his arms back across his chest and assumed a more composed look.

Standing at the far end of the table from Eagle was Nell, who had watched all this with a less than impressed twist to her lips.

"You didn't need to come to Orange Star's aid," she observed, her words cool and candid. "You were more than welcome to sit back and let us sink or swim on our own."

Eagle snorted and gave a dismissive wave. Throwing Nell a frosty glare for good measure, he turned and began to pace the width of the conference room.

"You're confusing the issue," he snapped. "Green Earth will always be the first to strike against Black Hole, and you know it. But that's one thing, and getting involved in a war that's between Orange Star and Blue Moon is another thing entirely."

"Eagle, you're being ridiculous," Sami burst out. "Just because we're asking for your help doesn't mean we're asking you to fight all our battles for us!"

Along with Andy and Max, Sami was standing along one side of the conference table, watching with mounting apprehension as the exchange between the commanders of two nations became increasingly heated. Upon hearing Sami's rebuke Eagle started and made as if to he was about to look at her, but then, seemingly thinking better of it, he shook his head and redirected his gaze to his boots.

"I am not prepared to take Green Earth to war with someone who is not our enemy," he continued in a more considered tone.

"We're not asking you to," Nell replied. "Orange Star is at war with Black Hole, and no one else. We're only asking you to stand with us as you have ever since Sturm's deception was revealed."

"Except that all along your border, Blue Moon is massing troops! Do you seriously expect me to believe that if they do attack, you won't want my help?"

"You gettin' blinded by your feelings for Green Earth again?" Max said. "If Olaf tries to conquer Orange Star, whose side do you wanna be on, anyway?"

Sami raised an eyebrow at Eagle following that rather blunt question, but he made sure to look only at Max.

"That is a question I shall answer when the time comes," Eagle said, his haughty tone not giving an inch. "But know that I sympathise with your position, Max."

"Yeah, right. You're just glad Jess didn't get her way and Orange Star ended up taking Lash, otherwise you'd be the ones facing war with Blue Moon."

"Are you accusing me of something?" Eagle asked, his voice soft and dangerous.

Max stretched his muscular arms and gave a bored sigh. "I'm just calling 'em like I see 'em."

"Then perhaps your eyes need examining!"

"That's enough, both of you!" The tight set of Nell's lips was a clear indicator that she was not at all pleased. "Commander Eagle, I understand your feelings on this matter, but I don't think it's too much to ask for a bit more decorum. And Max… why don't you go and check in with Rachel? She's been asking for an update on the situation."

"If you're sure," Max said. He did not sound pleased with the suggestion, but he obeyed, leaving the room perhaps a little less tense.

Sami kept her eyes on Eagle as her fellow CO departed, but he had turned his back on all of them and was staring out the window with his arms behind his back and his head held high. As she watched the sunlight seeping through his silvery blue hair it occurred to her that he looked more like a ghost than a man, the spikes turning ethereal where they met the light and melting into nothing.

"Perhaps Eagle and I should continue this in private," Nell said, her voice turning quiet.

Andy didn't look particularly convinced by the idea, but he moved to leave. Sami was about to follow when a sudden impulse seized her and she went over to Nell instead.

"Let me try to talk some sense into him," Sami said, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"Sami…are you sure?"

The worry that always seemed to be there in Nell's eyes of late burst into full bloom. Sami hated it. The last thing she needed was her superior of all people fretting like a mother hen.

"I think I'll have better luck, ma'am," Sami replied, brushing off that damn concern with a shrug she hoped appeared nonchalant. She had no desire to reveal just how desperate she was to speak with Eagle.

Nell gave a single, slow nod. "Alright then."

With a final fleeting look of sympathy she left, shutting the door behind her almost without a sound, and then Sami and Eagle were alone. Cued by the door closing, he began to speak, though he still did not turn away from the window.

"I apologise, Commander Nell, if I have offended you. But I am not about to compromise-"

"Eagle."

His whole body tensed as he realised who it was in the conference room with him. For a moment Sami was afraid he was going to bolt. Even watching him from behind she could see the panic gripping his body.

"Sami," he said at last. Indecision hung heavy in the wake of his voice, before he let out a long, hissing sigh and shook his head. "It's you."

"Yes. Me." She didn't even try to restrain her anger as she said it.

"Is anything wrong?"

The question was slow, wary even, the kind asked by a man expecting the ground to fall away from under his feet. Sami's frustration built with every word, every breath, and the little tilt of his head in her direction – just enough to show he was listening but not enough to actually see her – was the final straw.

"Something's wrong," she growled. "You're not even looking at me!"

Still there was no response. He was trying so hard not to let anything show, and it was only making Sami wonder what he was trying to hide. After half a year in which she had heard nothing from him, she had her suspicions. It was a mess. She didn't know where they stood. Didn't know what Eagle was thinking, didn't know what he was feeling. She was so sick and tired of it.

All she wanted now was the truth.

Sami was not much given to regret. She didn't believe in stressing over things she couldn't change, and she made a point of dealing with what was in front of her instead of fretting about what might have been. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder if she had made a mistake six months ago, during the final battle of the Omega War. What had Eagle wanted to promise her, before she cut him off? She'd told him that they could talk when it was all over, but they never had. The battle had been so long and so exhausting, and after Von Bolt was finally vanquished, everything had fallen into chaos. It had been all they could do to stay standing, let alone find a private moment. There just hadn't been time, and then…

And then it had all been over. He'd gone back to Green Earth and she'd returned to Orange Star, and they hadn't spoken since.

She realised that he was finally looking her in the eye. Eagle always had such nobility, such strength in his bearing. Even now, resigned to meeting her gaze, he was filled with pride and certainty. If he was ashamed of the way he had acted, he made sure not to show it.

At last he took a considered breath and began to speak. "Sami, how I feel about you hasn't changed. I want you to know that."

The worst part of it was how quiet and calm he sounded. Sami wanted to scream and shout until he broke and gave her something – anything – as long as it was more than this pathetic trickle.

"You're not acting like it," she said instead, her every effort going towards caging the growl that threatened to consume her voice.

"But we're too far apart," he continued as though he had not heard her. "You in Orange Star, me in Green Earth. I've missed you, and yet I've come to realise that there's more longing and emptiness than anything else. Our situation is simply too complicated. The conflict that I feel…" he shook his head and looked away. "It's just not how things are supposed to be."

Sami's lips twisted into a black scowl. "You could have told me."

"I didn't want to tell you in some email or phone conversation," he countered. "You deserve better than that."

"I deserve better than six months of nothing!"

He closed his eyes and swallowed. "Very well. I… concede that you may have a point. My conduct in this was not gentlemanly. I apologise."

Sami put a hand to her forehead and rubbed, hard. The ripple of pain across her skin was a welcome respite from the swirl of anger and confusion in her gut. Physical pain she could handle, she understood.

"Look, Eagle, you've obviously had a lot of time to think about this," she said, pulling her emotions back one by one until there was only a tense undercurrent to her voice. "It's just that I'm still trying to catch up, okay?"

"I understand."

"Do you, or are you just saying that?" She hissed, unable to stop the scowl on her lips from growing.

"Sami-"

"No!" She slammed her hands down on the table as if in mockery of his earlier outburst. "I don't want to hear any more excuses!"

"Excuses?" Eagle made to say something else before with a jerk of his head he cut himself short and settled for glowering at her. "Do you think so little of me? I have told you nothing but the truth, Sami, I give you my word!"

"What made you realise?" She growled.

"What?" He spat, glaring at her with condescension dripping from his eyes.

Sami shoved a breath out and shook her hair back from her eyes. The messy red tufts were spilling forward, and their faint touch against her skin was infuriating. She wanted to rip her hair out and throw it at him, to taint his pristine uniform with her memory. The weight of her dog tags around her neck was nagging at her as well. The cold metal felt wrong against her skin, so calm and cool; she was hot, and angry. How could Eagle be so self-centred as to decide the fate of their relationship all by himself? She could only think of one answer, one explanation, and the more she thought about it the angrier she grew.

Something within her snapped and she tore her dog tags from around her neck, sent them careening into the table like a fatally wounded plane falling from the sky.

Eagle flinched as they crashed into the lacquered wood, leaving nothing but a brief scratch and a metallic whimper.

"You say you've just come to realise all this," Sami said, her voice strangely smooth now that she had given into her fury. "That's crap. You didn't just realise this, something made you realise it. Someone made you realise it. Didn't they?"

He stared at her for a long moment, his grey eyes hard as flint. At last he let out a breath with a shudder and glanced away, his eyes lingering on the fallen dog tags.

"Yes."

"Who is she?"

"Does it matter?"

Sami snorted and shook her head in disgust. She'd thought Eagle was better than this. He had his faults, certainly, but she had always thought he was a man of great honesty and integrity. How could he have left her dangling in limbo for months when he knew there was nothing left? He had hidden behind excuses not to tell her the truth, all too happy to delay the awful confrontation. It had shocked her when he hadn't even spoken to her after the battle on the coast, citing the urgent need for their top command to coordinate, but now she knew the real reason why. He'd run from her like a coward.

The thought sent a fresh wave of disgust flooding through her veins.

"You won't tell me her name." She shook her head slowly, reeling from the loathing she felt when she looked at this stranger standing before her with his prideful bearing and stony composure. "If I hadn't cornered you in here, would you have even spoken to me at all?"

Eagle's nostrils flared and Sami knew she had struck a nerve. His eyes were filled with anger, locked onto her dog tags where they sat on the table.

"Her name is Angel," he said at last, his voice cold and flat.

"Well, I suppose I can't compete with an angel," she muttered.

He ignored her, his face taut and hard. He was walling off his emotions with ruthless determination, Sami realised. He was shutting her out.

"Green Earth has been training rigorously in preparation for any potential future conflict," Eagle continued, his voice completely devoid of feeling now. "Drake, Jess and myself have each been working with a new commanding officer. Angel was assigned to me."

"I've never heard it called that before," Sami retorted, no longer caring how bitter and upset she sounded.

It didn't matter. Eagle didn't respond at all, fixated upon his precious control.

"Angel and I spent a great deal of time together. We became close. You and I were too separate. I needed something else, something closer. I wanted to feel loved, and for all that we had… it was not enough."

Sami was at a total loss for words. Even if the perfect reply had come to her, she wouldn't have trusted her voice to hold whilst saying it. There was a strange feeling running through her, making her feel almost unsteady, something deeper than the shock and the anger. Her eyes felt hot and weak.

With a stab of panic Sami realised that she was about to cry.

Swiftly she turned away so that Eagle would not see. She wrenched her eyes shut and crossed her arms, digging her fingernails into her arms until there was only hard, burning pain. She refused to cry, zeroing in on her anger and disgust instead. The whole thing was a farce. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her tears. He didn't deserve to witness that. Not anymore.

Her eyes still closed, Sami suddenly found herself imagining Andy and Nell standing outside the door, crouched over to listen through the keyhole. _Focus on the mission, soldier_. The thought brought a slight twinge of relief. Nell was expecting her to try and talk some sense into Eagle regarding the Black Hole situation, and that was exactly what she'd damn well do.

"Black Hole," she said in the ramrod hard voice of a Special Forces captain. "Will you commit to an alliance against them or not?"

He blinked several times, and did not answer. This was clearly not what he had expected her to say next, Sami thought with no small pleasure.

"I… you know my concerns," he said after a time, confusion clouding his voice as he struggled to adjust.

"I'm dismissing them," she snapped. "We'll commit to an alliance against Black Hole and only Black Hole. Call it upholding the Allied Nations Charter if you like. If Orange Star enters into a conflict with anyone else, you'll be considered a neutral party for the purposes of that war, and we'll make every effort to keep you as far away from it as we can."

"Blue Moon may not see things the same way."

"I don't give a damn how Blue Moon sees things! You owe us this."

Another long silence. "I suppose that's true."

"Then we're finished here," Sami muttered in disgust. "You can draw up the specifics with Nell."

She stormed out of the room without another word, slamming the door behind her and leaving Eagle to fade away alone.


End file.
